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Review: Super Mutant Alien Assault

***This is the second of two reviews in relation to the games covered on episode 20 of the Snatch Gaming podcast. Listen to learn more about these games and the lovely people that donated Steam keys to us!***

Do you like guns, robots, weird creatures, colorful environments and crazy fast action? Of course you do. That’s why Super Mutant Alien Assault is a thrifty digital download game you should strongly consider for your PC, PS4, or Xbox One.

Developer Chris Suffern (under the company label Cybernate) has created a crazy good pick up and play (again, and again, and again) action game with little outside help aside from outsourced artwork. On your own or with a friend you assume the role of a heroic little robot who happens to be very familiar with armaments of all kinds. Your goal is to successfully complete three sets of levels and save humanity. The action starts off with a few enemies and a guns dispensary but steadily quickens.

Each upcoming level is randomized so you don’t know where you’re going to start or where you’ll go next. Each level has various timed dispensaries that will give you a *ding* when ready for you to use. One will give you the next gun in your arsenal should you run out of ammo or choose to switch things up. Another dispenses grenades, and more rare are those that reward you with health occasionally.

Each screen is not always as simple as blasting away the baddies either. You’ll often have the added task of shutting down overflowing valves, refueling while in combat, etc. These spice things up and add more for you to think about on the fly besides just avoiding the wacky menagerie of enemies. Speaking of which, the designs for the baddies are quite fun here. You have flies that transform into bloated toxic versions of their former selves, metal-helmed bull-like enemies that charge at you, green guys that seem to pay homage to Slimer, and many more.

The guns and grenades you’re equipped with and unlock as you play are varied as well. You have your shotgun, rocket launcher, assault rifle and all that, but you also have a pogo stick of death, a bouncy grenade launcher, all manner of explosives (timed and otherwise), and much more I haven’t unlocked yet.

The variety and random element is a lot of what makes this game a hell of a lot of fun. You never know which items will be available to you next, or if a gun dispensary will even be in the next level at all. Objectives may force you to areas of the screen you would normally prefer to stay away from. This forces you to always be thinking, which is challenging fun when everything moves so fast. The controls have your back though. They’re incredibly intuitive and you’ll never be blaming them for an untimely death. You’re in charge in every way when it comes to movement. It all comes together in a frantic but finely tuned package.

If you like games that test your reflexes then you won’t want to sleep on this one, and you can certainly progress far without being a zen master. I’ve made it about 2/3 of the way so far, unlocking new items all along the way. There’s also defensive abilities, special items, etc. so Super Mutant Alient Assault absolutely has enough game to keep you coming back whether you’re into action platformers, rogue-likes, or co-op. Check it out for sure.